Unless you’ve been buried under several hundred rocks for the past few months, you’ve undoubtedly seen the fried chicken sandwich wars gathering pace. KFC’s competitor in the ever growing arms race is this Crispy Colonel Sandwich.
The Crispy Colonel Sandwich is available in a variety of styles including: Honey BBQ, Buffalo and Nashville Hot. For the purpose of this review, I went with the Nashville Hot, as that particular style of hot chicken is trendy across the country right now.
On peeking inside the bun I was quite surprised to find the crispy chicken was actually two smaller pieces, loaded up on the bun. I don’t know if this helps the chicken cook quicker, remain juicy or crisp up – but it does make the sandwich harder to handle. More than once I found a chicken piece trying to leap from the bun.
My first impression was that this is indeed a crisp chicken. You can see in the pictures above how thick and crunchy the exterior breading is. I was really impressed by this part of the sandwich. Also the quality of the chicken on the inside. This was instantly identifiable as chicken, not some mystery processed meat. This is not a chicken nugget in patty format.
The Nashville spice had a gentle heat (I’m a spice lover so caveat emptor) that warmed the front and back of the palate. I’m thinking a cayenne/tabasco level heat, but none of the vinegary notes. As well as the chicken you’ll find sharp pickles and creamy mayo too – for once on a fast food sandwich the mayo was actually used sensibly and modestly too.
The only real disappointing element was the size. For the $4.99 sandwich only price, I hoped for something a bit more substantial. I could happily eat two of these in one sitting.
Despite that minor flaw, I loved this sandwich. A great taste and texture, this should be a definite must try!
For nutrition on this sandwich see the KFC calculator here.
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic Salt Lake City, and a former freelance restaurant critic. I’ve worked extensively with local, regional and national food and drink organizations. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have been writing about food and drink for more than fifteen years. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. I don’t mind admitting to a certain secret obsession with fast food as well – and that’s where Menu And Price comes in…